Tadashi Is Here
by LadyWendy202
Summary: Hiro keeps having nightmares of that horrible fire. Until one night when he gets a special visitor... Rated T for later chapters and slight mentions of depression. Just family. No romance in the first chapter. Later on maybe with an OC. Story better than summary.


** Disclaimer: I don't own the franchise of Disney, nor Big Hero Six. I wish Hiro was real so that he could be my best friend and so that I can hug him when he cries and laugh with him when he's happy. But I don't own him… :( Sorry. Hope you like this story. Ps. There will be five chapters to the story plus possibly an epilogue if all goes well. Will probably be updated once a week depending on when I have time. Enjoy!**

Hiro woke up shaking. Again. The second time that night. Every time, it was the same. _He_ ran in. The hat flew, and he was gone. Forever. Leaving Hiro by himself. Without the person he needed, his biggest supporter and fan, his role model, his best friend, his brother, gone. Again.

Hiro sobbed softly. He looked up and could have sworn that he'd seen a sleeping body on his brother's bed, but a second later, it was gone. It was his mind trying to go back. His mind wanted to believe that _he_ was there. But, he wasn't. He was gone. Forever lost from Hiro's now broken world.

_Tadashi. _Just the name reminded him of the silence and the shouting of the fire's explosion. Or was it his own voice, shouting his brother's name, before finally accepting the defeat of death's new prisoner? If he'd only held on a half a minute longer, maybe he'd be in that bed. Maybe, Tadashi would be mourning over the Professor Callaghan's death. Maybe, they'd be working on reconstructing his microbots that were lost in the fire. Maybe they'd both be working in their labs on their own separate projects. Even so, being apart and alive was better than apart and dead. Maybe…

No, this was was his life now. Tadashi's life… was gone. Hardly anything proved that he was ever there. Just an empty bed, unfinished plans, unimagined creations, and a headless cap... He was forgetting something. Was it his old friends? Maybe. Who knew? Whatever it was, he didn't want to remember. At the same time, he didn't want to forget.

Alarm, run, stop, fire, cap, gone. Repeat. On, and on, and on, and on. Never stopping. Only repeating. Tadashi never appeared out of the fire. Only the opposite. Never to come out or escape. Never to be seen again. He was too good for his own well-being. If only…

"**Tadashi! **_**Tadashi!**_"

No. No! He wasn't gone! He couldn't be! Hiro only then noticed the tear stained pillow case. Was the cry his own? He did not know. Nor did he care. Tadashi was gone. Forever. Hiro didn't want to live, nor did he want to die. Without Tadashi, his life was nothing but a glass half empty. If only…

Tadashi was there, standing before him. Light was bouncing off of him at every angle. Light in every direction. Hiro was nearly blinded at the sight. But it was an illusion… right?

"Do not wake up, Hiro, I must speak with you."

His voice was different. Deeper, slower, if possible. Hiro rubbed his eyes in confusion. A hallucination? He'd woken up again. The bright light was gone. Tadashi was gone. One request. One simple request, and he couldn't follow. He'd left him. But after all, it was only a dream.

Hiro sunk into his pillow, closed his tired eyes, and let out a deep breath. Tadashi should have lived a long life. He should have graduated college and changed the world. Should have achieved his life ambitions, and his dreams, and his goals. All of them. He should have gotten married, and had kids. No, the fates wouldn't allow it. The world wouldn't make it so. He had to die. But there had to be a reason… right? Everything happens for a reason. Nothing didn't. One thing had connections to everything. So many lost opportunities. Yet, so many gained.

Hiro believed something. For every person who dies alone, early or at the hands of someone else, a soulmate is lost. He'd always been afraid that it would happen to him. This time, his brother was the cause of a lost and lonely soul. Somewhere out there, someone would be alone until they died. Or maybe they'd already died, and they'd found each other somewhere in the afterlife. Maybe that lost and lonely soul was himself. Maybe, all through their lives they never got married and grew old as brothers. Maybe they'd have been business and lab partners all their lives. Maybe he's out there right now, waiting to be let inside his home to rest in the comfort of his bed, and put his cap where it belonged. On his own head.

Hiro had always tried to be optimistic about life. Always upbeat, happy and enjoying life. Even in the darkest of times, Hiro would find something worth a smile. Usually, Tadashi would be the cause of his smile. Now that he was gone, there was no joy. There was no light in his world. Just emptiness and darkness all around him. No matter how hard he, or Aunt Cass tried, nothing could make him even crack a smile. Hiro slowly drifted off into sleep, lost in his own emptiness.

This dream was different, somehow. There was no explosion. Yet, Tadashi was still in there. Tadashi was in there. Maybe, if only Hiro could save him in this dream, Tadashi would appear in his own bed when he woke up next. All of this hell becoming a horribly vivid nightmare. As Hiro took a step forward to save his brother, he realized a figure emerging from the fire, coughing and choking. Through all this, still making his way out. Tadashi. His brother.

Hiro watched as his brother made his way out of the building. He was too slow for Hiro. Hiro needed reassurance, and now. Hiro ran for him. As he did this, Tadashi only got farther and farther away. He was running away from him, a smile on his face as if it were some kind of a playground game. Yet, no matter how far he ran, he never went into the fire. Finally, Tadashi stopped, and turned to Hiro. Tadashi looked him in the eye and embraced his brother. All was forgotten. All worries were taken away. All happiness restored. As he pulled away, Hiro could see the fire in his lost brother's eyes. Before either of them could say a thing, Tadashi was pulling Hiro into the fire.

They ran in, together. Chaos ensued. There was his lost explosion. Right there, on top of him. Hiro had lost sight of Tadashi as they were blown apart.

"_Tadashi!_"

A burning sensation came over Hiro. Pain was everywhere.

"_Help! Tadashi!_" Hiro frantically shouted. There was no response. Is this what he felt? The stinging and the burning of the fire with the inability to breathe in oxygen?

"_Tadashi?_" Hiro's voice sounded sore and weak from the smoke of the fire. Why did he have to die like this? Suddenly, Tadashi appeared. _Three seconds._

"_I'll see you later on, Hiro. Don't worry._"

With that, Tadashi waved, a sad smile on his face. A second later, he was gone. Lost in the darkness. Hiro woke up, again. This time, in pain. Whether it was physical or emotional, he did not know. Either way, it all felt the same. Hiro was here. Tadashi, was not. Was this really his new reality? Was he not supposed to go to college with his brother?

"Tadashi..." Hiro winced at the sound of his voice cracking. It only reminded him of when Tadashi went through the cracked voice stage. He was so embarrassed that he refused to speak until Hiro had begged him not to be silent. That was around the time that he was in his junior year of high school. He had graduated young as well. Just a little older than Hiro was when he graduated.

Just then, it hit him. It was all his fault. If only he'd tried getting into college sooner. If he had, Tadashi wouldn't be... dead. Hiro let out a choked sob. It was then that he'd slipped into the dark abyss of sleeping. He'd cried himself to sleep.

He stood in his room. There was no fire. All was calm. Tadashi was there. Was he in the past? Was he in the present?

"But you're dead." Hiro's bewildered state was oozing out of every word he said. Tadashi simply laughed, and stood there. How Hiro missed that warm, loving laugh.

"What are you doing here?" Tadashi stepped forward. Not responding. Never responding. Nothing ever made Hiro so frustrated.

The next thing he knew, he was melting into his older brother's warm embrace. How many times had he taken advantage of those hugs, he didn't know. Although, he regretted every single one. He felt tears soaking his face. They were definitely his own. How he felt them was a mystery. It was a dream. It was supposed to be impossible to feel something besides emotions in a dream. But, he did. For the first time in days, he smiled. No, he wasn't smiling. He wasn't upset, angry or any of the other negative emotions.

Hiro was beaming, crying happy tears. It was his brother. He was there. He even smelled like him. Tadashi was breathing against the hug. Inhaling, and exhaling. More alive than ever. But, how? He didn't want to let go, and he could tell that Tadashi didn't want to either, but they eventually did. Each of them gave out a tearful laugh. Twinkles shone through their eyes as they gazed at each other in pure and blissful happiness. The Hamada brothers had been reunited.

"I'm worried, Tadashi. I'm only fourteen. People forget… I can't forget you. I just can't! You mean… _so _much to me… I just..."

"You won't forget, Hiro. You'll do so many amazing things with your life, but not a day will pass that you will not think of or remember me."

"But the memories..."

"They'll fade. But they'll come back, eventually."

"But I want to keep them, hold them forever. For every lost memory, I lose a part of you. I can't do that!"

"You won't forget, Hiro. Just, trust me."

"How do you know that?" Now, Hiro was sobbing again, clinging to Tadashi as if his life depended on it.

"I just… know." Tadashi lay down on his own bed. No longer empty. After this, he placed his old cap on his head. This brought more tears to Hiro's eyes. Tadashi pulled Hiro with him, running fingers through Hiro's hair, knowing that it soothed him when he was younger. Hiro relaxed, although he still had tears coming due to how real this all felt. "But, you won't do anything until you start eating and sleeping." Tadashi motioned to the windowsill where last night's dinner rested.

"Food only keeps me alive, and sleep only brings me nightmares."

"But you need to live, Hiro."

"Why should I?"

Tadashi sighed heavily, grimacing at the thought of his brother killing himself. _He needs to live… more so than he thinks._

"Look, Hiro, I can only say so much..." another sigh. "I can only visit you four more times until you die. You are awake, and I _am_ here. But, you need to move on. You need to go to college and use your big brain to help people."

"How can I do that, when you're gone? I can't move on. Not without you!"

"You have can't look back, but you don't have to forget. Oh, by the way, both our parents said hello, and wish you well." Hiro smiled sadly at this comment. "_Please _try not to get into more trouble. Even though I know you already will. Don't let revenge be the answer to your problems. It just won't be worth it."

"I'm guessing that you have to leave soon." Hiro said, grabbing for his brother's hand and grasping it tightly. He didn't want to let go. Not so soon.

"I may be dead, but I'm still here. I always will don't forget me, Hiro. We're brothers. We always will be. No matter how many worlds, galaxies, dimensions, or life points keep us apart, that won't change."

"But since I've lost you and we _are_ sepa-"

"Hiro, you haven't lost me. I'll be watching over you, helping you. Guiding you."

"But I can't always physically be with you or talk to you." Hiro cried.

"I know, but that's why you can't push away the people who want to help you. Including me." Tadashi looked off into space for a second. He stared at a clock. It read 11:54 PM. "I should be going soon. I will be back, someday."

"When will I see you again?"

"Only time will tell." Tadashi stood up from the bed and Hiro bolted after him.

"Wait! Don't go! Not yet… I can't lose you just yet."

"I have to go before tomorrow comes. Before midnight, or else never again, wow that sounded like Cinderella..."

"Last hug..." Before Tadashi could respond, Hiro embraced him once more. He knew that when he let go, Tadashi would be gone. Again. Leaving him alone. Again.

"Bonehead,"

"Yeah?" Hiro wouldn't let go.

"It wasn't your fault." Hiro tensed as guilt washed over him. Yet another tear slid down his face. "It was never your fault. Soon enough, you'll get to the bottom of it. Trust me."

Silence.

"Tadashi,"

"Huh?"

"I miss you." Hiro buried his face in his shirt.

"Me too. More than you know."

A few tears stained Tadashi's shirt, as Hiro choked up a few more tears.

"Hiro..."

"What?" Hiro's weak and broken voice broke Tadashi into pieces. It made him feel even worse to say,

"I have to go." Tadashi almost cried.

"I-I love you." Hiro clung to his soldiers.

"I love you too." Tadashi pat his shoulder.

Hiro took in Tadashi's scent in his final deep breath, before he let go. When Hiro looked up, Tadashi was gone, and he was alone. Hiro glanced at the clock. 12:00 PM.

Through a sob Hiro said to himself, "Cinderella… ha… Good one, bro."

Tadashi was gone, for now. He promised to be back, so he would be. Tadashi was there, but now he wasn't.

Hiro fell to his knees. He buried his face in his hands on impact.

"He said he'd be back… so he will be. He promised."

Hiro forced himself to get up. He glanced at Tadashi's bed. The only evidence that Tadashi had visited was the dip in the mattress and the hat left behind on the floor.

"Night Tadashi," Hiro started as he climbed into his own bed. "I-I'll see you later… brother..."

For the first time since the fire, Hiro slept peacefully, until ten the next morning. When he woke up, he had a grin on his face for only a few seconds when he saw that the hat had been moved to the bed. It was then, that he realized that it all could have been a dream. That was until he saw a sticky note on the hat in his brother's handwriting.

"I'm here." Hiro grinned as he said this, before setting out to fix his robot for some bot fighting. Maybe he'd start over, maybe not. Who knew? From now on, he'd go with the flow of the river called life, and make his way to seeing Tadashi again.

_Again… _Hiro liked the sound of that.

"I'm coming for you Tadashi, I'll be waiting."


End file.
